Megyn Kelly Reveals How Trump Influenced Decision to Leave Fox News

The journalist also got a chance to flex her talk-show hosting skills ahead of the debut of her daily show, 'Megyn Kelly Today.'

Ahead of the launch of her daily morning show, Megyn Kelly Today, the NBC News journalist stopped by The Ellen DeGeneres Show, where she explained how Donald Trump influenced her decision to leave Fox News after 12 years.

“Donald Trump has a way of clarifying one’s life choices and that was true in my case, too,” Kelly said, explaining how she was struck by how her primetime news coverage "became all political." When Kelly contemplated if Fox News was the right place for her, “the universe came and sort of shone a light and it was clear to me what I wanted to do.”

DeGeneres asked if any of Trump’s infamous tweets targeted at Kelly were particularly what motivated her move, but Kelly said it was more than just the tweets: “The country’s so divided right now and it’s so political.”

Kelly recalled fellow Fox News alum Bill O’Reilly telling her that “cable news primetime is a snake pit” when she first joined the network's nightly lineup. “I didn’t want to be in the snake pit. I just wanted to cover the news,” she said.

Kelly revealed that in addition to Trump’s tweets, politics began taking over her life and that’s when she knew it was time to leave. “It was just a clarification and an affirmation that I did not want to live like this," she said.

While discussing Megyn Kelly Today, Kelly described the show as “if you took a talk show and a news show and they had a baby, that’s what this show’s gonna be.” As a veteran talk show host, DeGeneres took it upon herself to test Kelly’s hosting skills. While dressed in a sumo suit, Kelly had to exercise, cook, dance through the audience and drink wine all while hitting her marks.